Uncovering FIFA Uncovered: A chat with Miles Coleman, the producer of the Netflix series
There’s an extraordinary scene in episode three of the Netflix series FIFA Uncovered, where Hassan Al Thawadi, the CEO of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid, wipes away a tear recalling the backlash in the aftermath of Qatar being awarded the hosting rights to the tournament.
Al Thawadi talks about the “serious bout of depression” he went through because of the media furore. But, to the cynic, Al Thawadi’s tears may feel as genuine as Matt Hancock’s on Good Morning Britain. And indeed, far from evoking pathos, playing the victim card in the face of astounding corruption charges and inquests into Qatar’s human-rights records does feel slightly pathetic.
This was after all, a man who after years of stubbornly denying labourer deaths during the construction of stadiums, admitted that as many as 500 workmen had died in an interview conducted during the World Cup.
It’s why it’s surprising to hear Miles Coleman, the producer of FIFA Uncovered, say he “liked Hassan a hell of a lot”.
“When I met him in London, he was in a T-shirt and jeans and we just shot the shit for an hour. I read that he’s a Liverpool fan and they’d just lost and I shook his hand, sat down and went ‘You guys were shit on the weekend’ and he laughed,” said Coleman.
It’s a striking contrast to the Al Thawadi we have become accustomed to seeing and Coleman notes how he transforms when he’s in Qatar.
“He was a fascinating guy. He’s a football fan, he gets it, he knows it but he also knows what he can and can’t say in a Qatari context. He was the son of an ambassador and he just has being an ambassador in his blood, he’s got a personal sense and then he switches on his public persona,” Coleman said.
And therein, lies the secret sauce of what makes FIFA Uncovered so engrossing. It’s emphatic in its messaging around the systemic failures of the organisation yet almost empathetic in its portrayal of the perpetrators.
“We’re not here to judge, this is not a ‘gotcha’. We are not going to reveal hidden footage and say ‘aha, you’re bastards, we knew it all along’,” Coleman said.
“Our approach in FIFA to everyone was this is your platform. Say your piece. If you want to tell us about your career and how wonderful it is, great. If you want to tell us about your recipe for homemade banana bread, we don’t care. This is your platform. We really meant that, we were very sincere about it”.
Sepp Blatter, the notorious former FIFA chief dubbed the “best politician in the history of politicians” by Coleman, is unsurprisingly captivating when placed in front of the camera. You understand how he’s charmed his way to the top and held on to power for 17 years, despite the overwhelming corruption charges.
“ He’s got that sparkle in his eye and an ability to switch things around. And as interviewers, what amazed me was that he knew how to give us just a little bit. So we walked out of that interview going ‘great we got what we needed, we got even more, we’re so good’. And then you watch it back and you realise that he did it again,” said Coleman.
Blatter reminisces about his time as FIFA chief, how he wanted to use the sport to effect change and take it to all corners of the world. He recalls his first meeting with Nelson Mandela and how Mandela told him to call him ‘Madiba’. But just as you begin to feel the slightest tingle of warmth towards Blatter, you see how he blatantly leveraged his connection with Mandela to appease confederation heads into voting for him. It’s devastating storytelling.
The organisation has become entrenched with corruption and malpractice to the extent that it’s come to be accepted as a part of the game. The series shakes the average football fan out of that stupor and shows them why they need to care about FIFA’s nefariousness. The objective of the show is to engage yes, but also to enrage.
“If not everyone understands the financial intricacies but leave with a strong emotion you have kind of done your job. I really like it when people come out to me and say “I watched your show and it made me angry”. When people say ‘It was really fun’ I sort of think shit, we haven’t done our job”.
Prior to this series, Coleman’s last football project was This is Football, a six-part docu series that makes you believe it is still a beautiful game. But, making FIFA Uncovered and seeing what football really is filled Coleman with a sense of hopelessness. One of things that depressed him most when working on it was his meeting with Gianni Infantino.
“I don’t see a man who truly loves football and the game of football. I see a man who wants to be a politician, who wants to be some sort of world leader and if Tiddlywinks became more popular than football tomorrow, he’d run world Tiddlywinks,” he said.
It’s why he believes it’s imperative to do a follow up on FIFA Uncovered. Infantino features fleetingly in the series and deserves his chance in the spotlight.
Miles Coleman wants to make you angry again.
